There is more to Jedd Gyorko than the bat and the ability to play second base.

The Padres love the baseball instincts of their rookie infielder.

“He knows how the game is played, how it works,” Padres manager Bud Black said recently of Gyorko. “He is ahead when it comes to baseball instincts. He knows.”

Saturday night, all facets of Gyorko’s game came into play as the Padres scored a second straight, final-at-bat, one-run decision over the Rockies at Petco Park.

Offensively, Gyorko’s opposite-field homer leading off the eighth -- on the first pitch offered by Rockies reliever Matt Belisle – snapped a 1-1 tie and led the Padres to their 2-1 win. Gyorko’s 17th homer of the season just cleared the glove of Colorado right fielder Michael Cuddyer and landed atop the message board. It was Gyorko’s first homer since his two-homer game on Aug. 23.

Defensively, Gyorko started one double play, roamed to both sides on a pair of grounders and made a running catch down the right field line.

But his biggest play Saturday night won’t show up in the boxscore.

With Michael Cuddyer running from first with one out in the ninth, Gyorko deked the Rockie as he slid into the bag at second – making it look like Gyorko was setting to take a throw.

Instead, the ball off the bat of Nolan Arenado was actually skied toward Alexi Amarista in center field. The extra second that Cuddyer needed to locate Arenado’s fly gave Amarista just enough time to throw behind Cuddyer to first to complete a game-ending double play.

Afterwards, Black lauded the play of Gyorko.

“You saw one swing of the bat for the homer,” said Black. “And then you saw the instincts and in-game awareness.”

“You do that hoping it helps and obviously it did,” said Gyorko. “Anything to help the team. Something as simple as that can make a big difference in a game.”

The game-ending play marked the second time Saturday night that a Padres outfielder threw out a runner to complete a double play.

In the sixth, Will Venable caught a Yorvit Torrealba drive on a head-first dive toward the line in right and doubled Todd Helton off second.

“Thanks to (coach) Dave Roberts positioning me, I was playing a little more shallow than normal,” said Venable of his catch. “He hit the ball well. I didn’t think I’d have to dive for it and it kind of just sank into my glove as I fell down.”

The Padres almost turned a third double play from the outfield on the play that tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the eighth.

Rockies pinch-runner Charlie Culberson knocked the ball – and mitt – from the hand of Padres catcher Nick Hundley on a head-first slide at home. Culberson was on second when D.J. LeMahieu lined a two-out single to left.

Although Chris Denorfia’s throw was slightly to the first-base side of the plate, it was in plenty of time to beat Culberson. But as Hundley applied the tag, his glove slipped underneath Culberson’s left arm and chest – yanking the mitt from Hundley’s left hand.

The unearned run kept Tyson Ross from picking up the win. Ross allowed three hits and two walks with five strikeouts over seven shutout innings before giving way to Luke Gregerson in the eighth.

The right-hander out-dueled Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood, who spotted the Padres a 1-0 lead in the first. The Padres made that run it stand up for seven innings.

“Tyson threw the ball well,” said Black. “This might sound contradictory, but he threw seven scoreless innings and gave up three hits, but at times he has maybe thrown better. That’s a great sign.

“I didn’t see him come out of his mechanics. I think the thing we’ve seen with Tyson is that repeatable delivery and more consistency with his ball-strike ratio. That was a great night for Tyson . . . another great step in the right direction for a major league starter.”

Ross was more efficient than in his previous start when he had 10 strikeouts while throwing 105 pitches over five innings last Sunday at Dodger Stadium. This time, the same number of pitches bought him seven full innings.

“I didn’t throw as many first-pitch strikes as I wanted, but I was able to get some quick outs,” said Ross. “That allowed me to pitch deeper in the game.”